FUNCTIONING OF THE ONOMATOPOEIA VOCABULARY IN TANJA NAUSE’S NOVEL “BERLIN, MEYERBEER 26”

Abstract

The proposed article examines the features of the functioning of the onomatopoeia vocabulary which is formed within the lexical-semantic field “Geräusch/noise” in the novel of the modern German writer Tanja Nause “Berlin, Meyerbeer 26”. It was studied out that the most sound words are found in literary works, which is due to their functionality. The main functions of onomatopoeia vocabulary in literary texts are the following: expressive, compressive, sound-imitative function, sound-descriptive function, etc. The authors use sound words in order to describe the inner state of the hero, to give emotional color to the situation, to indicate the length of any action in time, to describe a certain action and so on. In order to describe the sounds of the world around us, writers often use onomatopoeic vocabulary in both literal and figurative meanings. There are sound-imitative and sound-descriptive lexical units. Sound-imitative lexical units (sound words) almost accurately reproduce the sounds of the objective world with the help of the phonetic system of language. Sound-descriptive lexical units in a literary text name or describe sounds without imitating them phonetically. The most effective means of realization of the sound-descriptive and identifying function of sound words in a literary text is the use of agglomerates (clusters of sound-imitative units in a small fragment of the text, which is united by a common thought or concept). Tanja Nause’s novel “Berlin, Meyerbeer 26” is dominated by the compressive and descriptive functions of onomatopoeia vocabulary. Mostly sound words in the novel serve as a stylistic device that helps to describe the sound according to its source and characterize certain mechanical actions, but the onomatopoeia vocabulary of the novel also helps the reader learn more about the social and/or personal characteristics of the novel’s protagonist and other characters. Using certain sound words, the author consciously calculates the reader’s reaction and appeals to certain emotional aspects of perception.